Is there a difference between Bahrain and Syria?

Mohamed Omar, a Swedish freelance writer, has written an interesting piece on the difference between the “Arab Spring” unrest in two very different countries:

The opposition in Bahrain is a genuine popular movement against an unpopular US and Zionist backed tyrant while the opposition in Syria can be divided in to two main parts. A genuine part which is peaceful, against foreign interference and for democratic reforms and a not so genuine part which is militant, dominated by not so democratic Wahhabi fanatics and Muslim Brotherhood activists, funded and armed by foreign powers, including the Saudi and Qatari Wahhabi dictatorships. This part of the opposition is completely opposed to dialogue and democratic reforms.

Some elements within this disingenuous opposition, which does not seem to have the welfare of the Syrian people as its first priority, are reaching out to the Zionist enemy. Yitzhak Herzog, an alternate on Israel’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee who has previously held ministerial posts, has said the Syrian opposition wants to be friends with Israel.

Zionist media has been working around the clock to demonize the Syrian government while at the same time ignoring the Bahraini uprising and the Saudi crackdown and invasion. It is quite clear which of the two, Assad and Al-Khalifah, the Zionists prefer.

But is it so clear? While the Israel lobby has not surprisingly led the push for regime change in Damascus, they haven’t exactly ignored the opposition in Bahrain either. Fikra Forum, which describes itself as an “online community that aims to generate ideas to support Arab democrats in their struggle with authoritarians and extremists,” features articles sympathetic to the Bahraini opposition, such as “How Saudi Arabia Thwarted Uprisings in Yemen and Bahrain,” “Bahraini Reform and the Saudi Veto,” and “Invading Bahrain is an Old Saudi Objective.” The forum is closely associated with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a think tank created by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee “to do AIPAC’s work but appear independent.” One could say that Fikra Forum was created by the Washington Institute to do WINEP’s work but appear independent. Contrary to the conventional wisdom, WINEP’s work appears to involve supporting unrest not only in countries hostile to Israel, but throughout the Middle East.